Starting Over
by spree7101990
Summary: After Christina's honeymoon, Meredith comes home to the normal chaos that is Seattle Grace....except now Derek and her have broken up and she is slowly coming to terms with what it means to be free especially where Mark Sloan is concerned. M later
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Meredith slowly opened her eyes to the soft glow of a 6 o clock morning sun. She pulled her blankets tighter around her body as the cold seemed to seep into every pore of her skin. Sighing, Meredith shifted slightly to gain better access to her alarm clock and pressed the off button for the alarm; she was up so she might as well get ready. She grudgingly threw her covers away from her half cold, half warm limbs and propelled herself into a sitting position, putting her hands on her face in a motion to get rid of whatever sleep was left. Meredith listened intently for any signs of life in her house but when she heard nothing she figured Izzie was still sleeping since…lucky her…she had the day off and Alex had already left for an early start to the day…that or he just hadn't woken up yet. She pushed herself up and grabbed a towel from the closet near her dresser and trudged wearily to the bathroom and the shower. She quickly freed herself from the confines of her pajamas and stepped lightly into the shower, taking her time in washing herself up.

When she stepped out 30 minutes later, Meredith couldn't help but glance at the mirror over the sink, admiring her bronze glow she had obtained from her two weeks with Christina on her honeymoon. She smiled slightly and wrapped her towel tightly around herself, tiptoeing to her room to towel dry and get ready for her shift in the hospital. She and Alex were the only two residents on call today (Izzie and Christina getting the day off and George still an intern) so she figured it would be a rather busy day. Meredith smiled and looked at her closet choosing a light blue pair of distressed skinny jeans, a gray over shirt, and a maroon camisole. When she was fully dressed, she quickly tiptoed her way back into the bathroom and dried her hair into long natural waves that fell just past her elbows. She had gotten it re-highlighted while she was in the Bahamas and it had grown considerably since her first day as an intern at Seattle Grace…almost four years ago.

Meredith sighed again at her reflection, applying a light bronze eye shadow and clear lip gloss completing her natural tan look. Walking back into her room, she grabbed her new brown leather high healed knee boots and slipped them over her jeans and grabbed a black scarf from the top of her dresser. After she was done with what she needed to do, she grabbed her purse from the bed and quickly jogged downstairs, no longer worried about waking Izzie since she could hear her in the kitchen. When she passed the doorway she waved at her roommate and smiled exasperatedly at the amount of pancakes she was piling on three plates.

"Izz…you do know that both Alex and I have to go in today right?"

Izzie glanced up from her stirring and frowned in her direction. "Yeah, what makes you think I'm making this stuff for you?" Meredith shrugged and grabbed her white winter pea coat from the coat closet near the door and pulling it on in one smooth motion. "If you must know they are for Christina and George. They are going to hang out with me today."

Meredith stopped her hand on the doorknob and turned back to face her friend, "You mean Christina is actually choosing to do something other than stay home and mope on her day off?"

Izzie smiled and shrugged her shoulders, silently indicating that it was just as much of puzzlement to her as it was to Meredith. "Anyways have fun today! First day back…so exciting!"

Meredith grimaced at Izzie's happy tone and twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open revealing the cold dreary weather that was Seattle in November. She shuffled her feet through the thin layer of snow that covered the ground and made her way over to her jeep that was parked in the drive way.

--

It was quarter of seven when she finally parked the car in front of the hospital, stopping for a minute to study the one place that held so many good and bad memories for her. Meredith smiled and continued her way through the large sliding doors, accepting that she was a surgeon now (resident!) and this was what she wanted to do with her life for the rest of her life. Disregarding the certain blue eyed dreamy neurosurgeon that had stopped near the elevators, Meredith quickly walked over to the stair case in hopes of avoiding a scene with her ex. They had broken up just after Christina's wedding when he hadn't agreed with Meredith's decision to help her 'person' instead of leave with him for the weekend like he wanted to. There was more to the break up than that (the fact that he was the adulterous whore who had slept with her half sister and then had the nerve to say that it shouldn't matter) but Meredith had been given the reason she had been looking for to break it off with him. He hadn't been too happy with her and had called her many times over the first week of the honeymoon to either yell at her voicemail or plead with it to take him back, that he was wrong and he had made a mistake. The only time she had answered one of these calls, he had yelled and berated her for leaving him in Seattle while she was in the Bahamas and that she should and will come home. Of course it ended up with her hanging up on him and after that they hadn't talked since…Meredith was hoping to keep it that way.

She sighed and leaned her back up against the glass of the railing on the deck. She closed her eyes imagining the warm beaches she had recently been to.

"So how is my favorite dirty mistress today?" Meredith nearly jumped a foot in the air, apparently caught off guard by how easily Mark had been able to catch her unawares and turned to face the handsome surgeon.

"She is doing great…though she hasn't had her dose of coffee yet soooo" She left the last words hanging while eyeing the Styrofoam cup in his left hand with envy.

Mark Sloan quickly pulled his drink away from under her hungry gaze and laughed at the dejected look on her face. "If you want I'm heading that way myself for a refill and I can join you, while listening to you talk about how you were able to get the perfect tan I am currently jealous for."

She smiled in reply, shrugging her shoulders letting him know that she was okay with his company. "Bahamas."

Mark looked at her sidelong and raised his eyebrows in admiration. "And what were you doing there?"

Meredith smiled evilly and crossed her arms over her chest. "I was on a honeymoon."

At her statement, Mark stopped dead in his tracks staring down at her partially concealed right hand, searching for a sign that what she was telling him was true. "Honeymoon? The dirty mistress actually settled down only a mere two weeks after she broke up with her ex? That has to be a record…even for me."

She laughed at his words and pulled both hands out in front of his face showing that there was no ring. "Christina's you idiot, she had hers from the wedding so I suggested she use it to get away from everything and everyone after Burke left her. She generously asked me to go with her."

They had finally made their way over to the coffee stand and were waiting patiently for the fellow doctors in front of them to finish up. "Oh well then…" Mark didn't know what to say after his initial shock at her honeymoon comment. He didn't want to admit how much his heart fell when he thought she had eloped over the two weeks he hadn't seen her. He couldn't really explain why it had bothered him so much, so he put it down to him not liking that she never told him before hand. Their turn had come and he handed his empty cup to the guy, telling him his usual. He watched as Meredith ordered a medium caramel cream coffee and grabbing a small scone for breakfast.

"So yeah, beautiful tan and everything was thanks to Christina. Though I must admit I think I got the better end of the bargain; not having to deal with Derek all the time, giving me time to realize that breaking up with him was what I really wanted, spending every day I could on the beach and eating take out at fancy restaurants, every night in a five star hotel…and all pretty much for free since Christina's parents had paid for the whole thing!" She had closed her eyes again, briefly imagining her vacation and when she opened them she smiled up at his blue ones. "It was the exact thing that I needed."

Mark nodded and picked a piece of bread off from the corner of her scone she was eating and popped it into his mouth. Again he wasn't sure why he felt so thrilled that Meredith had finally broken up with Derek once and for all but he knew that if she kept telling him stuff like this he would have to flirt in earnest. "Soooo you and Derek are done huh? For real or are you just on one of those temporary stand stills that you two are known so well for."

Meredith glared at him from over her coffee cup and shook her head as she continued walking over to the new resident's room she was now able to use. "Yup, no more dark and twisty Meredith." She stopped outside the door and stared at it for a few seconds before turning around and sticking her tongue out at Mark.

He chuckled good naturedly at her and walked away muttering something about cheeky blondes.

Meredith silently watched his back for a few seconds after he left, before turning around and going into the new locker room. She glanced around, realizing that she was alone since Alex had most likely gotten here much earlier to get a head start on the better cases. She smiled and dropped her bag on the bench near her locker, pulling her over shirt over her head at the same time. She quickly got dressed into her light blue scrubs and took her time rearranging her stuff into the locker that she had been given.

The new resident quarters weren't all that different from the intern locker room, except that they now had access to a small living room with couches and chairs placed in a half square. It looked rather cozy and Meredith had the insight that the room would be filled with her friends the second they realized it was there. The lockers had also changed; they were now made of wood and a lot larger than they were before. They could now hold their scrubs, a change of pair, her out-of-hospital clothes, and some more room for whatever she felt like putting in. It wasn't too much of a step up but compared to the cramped locker room that was their place for three years it was an improvement.

Meredith smiled slightly at herself in the mirror on the back of the door and pulled the doorknob open barely running into a nurse who had just happened to walk by. Muttering a quick apology, she hastened over to where she figured Bailey would be and waited patiently flicking through charts in the meantime. It wasn't long before the short woman walked over to her and smiled, gesturing to the new blue indentation near her name on the white doctors coat. "Finally you're not one of my snobby interns anymore. But that doesn't mean you can slack off, Grey."

Meredith smiled while shaking her head quickly, trying to control her laughter at the thought of whoever would get to be the Nazi's new group of interns. The smile was quickly wiped off her face when the nervous thought ran across her mind…_she was going to get interns too!_ She hurriedly brought her thoughts back to Dr. Bailey and listened to her rant about how the hospital was way too quiet for her liking. She even mentioned something about a quiet board, but Meredith decided that she was going to ignore that little part since the last time someone had said that she had ended up with a bomb in her hands.

"Grey you go and cover the pit for a bit, and then around noon you should trade places with Karev since he seems to have disappeared somewhere…" At this Bailey had stopped and looked around suspiciously as if she was searching for wherever Alex had gone to. "Anyways if you have any problems, ask one of the attendings but other than that you're pretty much on your own today." Bailey smiled up at her for a second longer before barking an order at some nurse who was sitting staring off into space near the corner.

Meredith looked fondly at her mentor and friend but then shook herself free from the thoughts clouding her mind and jogged over to the elevator pushing the down button. She waited for a few seconds before the doors opened before her and revealed an empty room. Walking over to the number board, she quickly pushed the first floor and hoped that no one would join her on the way down. Her wish was granted as it only took two minutes to get from where she was and where she needed to go without any interruptions. The pit looked empty as she walked up to the main desk, grabbing a few charts in her hands while she overlooked the room. Meredith glanced down at the first chart and saw that it was a small 9 years old whose parents who had brought him in for a high fever and a breathing abnormality.

She walked swiftly over to the curtain the boy was behind and pulled it open revealing him as he laid back on the cushions of the large bed. His forehead was drenched in sweat and his eyes were closed as if he was in pain but was too brave to admit it. Meredith smiled reassuringly at the parents and checked his vitals before turning back to the mother and father and explained that she was going to have a nurse put him on a mild form of azithromycin (a form of IV antibacterial.) She explained the same thing to a short nurse who was standing next to her giving explicit instructions to have someone check in on him in another hour or so to make sure his breathing was not worsening and the fever had abated.

She accepted the 'thank you's' from the parents and dropped the chart into the waiting nurse's hands before looking down at the next one. This patient was a reoccurring patient who usually came in for pain medications for her broken ankle that was set weeks ago but still somehow managed to keep bothering her. Meredith shook her head slightly and prepared herself for a fight with the young woman and a psych consult since she was obviously abusing the drugs. When she flipped the curtain open her breath caught in her throat when she looked at the deep gash that ran along the side of her leg. She took a few deep breathes to calm herself and smiled encouragingly at the 17 year old…Rebecca was her name.

"Hi Rebecca, I'm Dr. Grey and I am going to be your doctor for today. Do you mind if I take a look at that cut?" The teen shook her head but Meredith could tell she was in pain since her face was screwed up with the effort not to cry. She dragged a small stool over to the side of the gurney and pulled on the white plastic gloves needed to examine the cut. Meredith carefully poked around the wound making sure no arteries had been torn and no major muscles shredded before sighing and motioning for a nurse to come over. "Can you page Dr. Sloan please? Tell him he is needed for suturing." When the nurse nodded and hurried off to locate a phone Meredith turned back to study Rebecca's face. "How are you doing Rebecca?"

"Fine…or as good as I can be with a slash on my leg." She laughed at the irony of her remark and grimaced again when she shifted to get a better look at her doctor.

"Hmm I can only imagine. Hey can you tell me what happened?"

"Nothing really I just fell from a tree."

It seemed like Mark was pretty near to the pit when she had him paged since it didn't take him very long to sidle up to her on her left, examining the cut with a plastic surgeons eye. He muttered to himself before he gently pulled Meredith up from her seat on the stool and replaced her with himself as he quickly pulled on his own pair of plastic gloves and grabbed a suture kit.

"Rebecca this is Dr. Sloan. He is going to sew up that cut of yours so that you won't be left with much of a scar, though in order for him to do that you need to be very still while he gives you some numbing medicine."

Rebecca nodded her head and kept her eyes on Mark's face; ogling the fact that such a handsome doctor had come to fix her leg up. Meredith laughed quietly from behind Mark and nudged him playfully pointing out the fact that he attracted teenagers too. He didn't do anything to acknowledge her laugh but his mouth did quirk up slightly in amusement.

"So anyways, you were telling Dr. Grey about how you injured yourself?"

Rebecca cleared her throat and dragged her eyes away from Mark to look back to Meredith. "Yeah I was pretty high in the tree when I lost my balance and fell. I must have cut myself on the way down."

Meredith nodded slightly, furrowing her brow at the young woman. "What were you doing in a tree with an ankle as bad as yours?"

The teenager smiled sheepishly, "Trying to sneak out from my room. My parents banned me from going anywhere's until they got back from work…but I wanted to hang out with my boyfriend."

Mark chuckled and pulled the stitches tighter around the cut. "I'm sure you have done that Dr. Grey, haven't you?"

Meredith lightly slapped the chart against her leg, frowning when she remembered her teenage years. "Never really had to, my mother didn't really care where I went as long as I didn't involve her in it." She smiled softly when she saw Mark grimace when he realized that he had hit a rough spot with her so she quickly changed the topic. "Anyways, I hope it was worth it. You're lucky you didn't reinjure your ankle. Do you need to call your parents?"

Rebecca shook her head and held up her bright pink cell phone indicating that she had already called. "They are on their way."

"Okay all done. You need to come back in another couple of days to get these taken out, kiddo. But other than that you're all good." Mark wiped his hands together and pulled the gloves off from his head, smiling down at Rebecca's face. He glanced slightly at Meredith and gestured for her to follow him as he moved away from the bed and pulled the curtain back. He grinned wickedly at her. "Did you miss me or something Grey? You could have done those sutures just as well as I."

Meredith blushed slightly and glared at him, "Old habits die hard Sloan; I used to be an intern remember? Always had to call for an attending to do something like that…won't happen again I assure you."

Mark smirked at her tone and gestured to the elevator and the rooms above, "No biggy I wasn't doing anything anyways. It seems that no one wants new boobs or a smoother nose."

She laughed and then her voice quieted "So is it true? The quiet board I mean?"

He shrugged his shoulders but he nodded nonetheless. "Yup not one surgery scheduled until late tonight, got everyone on their toes though. Except Karev…seems happy to be able to fetch me my coffees this morning in hopes of getting in on a big surgery tomorrow."

She smiled and poked him in the arm, "Why are you still making Alex run your errands for you? He is a resident now…not your exclusive odd job guy."

"Hey it's the dudes problem not mine, if he still wants to take my orders and not stand up to me…well that's his problem. Besides this way I have so much more free time that I can enjoy in other peoples company!"Mark glanced down, gave her his best Mcsteamy smile and then laughed loudly at the look of consternation on her face.

"Hey you're breaking all those rules again! Anyways I still think you should give him a break, he has put up with you for this long…can't say I see how…" The last part she had muttered under her breath but when she looked back up from her charts in her arms, Mark was grinning again.

"Grey you know you would miss me if I left, who would be left in this hospital who understands that dirty mistresses like to stick together."

She shook her head and then glanced down at the last chart in her hand before beckoning to a nurse nearby telling her to check his pulse and then discharge the person since she didn't see anything wrong. She turned back to Mark and watched as he unconsciously moved a hand up to his hair in an attempt to fix its messy state. She didn't say anything to him as they reached the end of the hallway but he stopped and stared at her for a few moments before she asked what he wanted.

"I was uhh…wondering how you were doing with the whole…Derek and you thing."

Meredith quickly narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief but when she saw that he was actually serious and not playing some sick joke on her she closed her eyes and smiled at him. "That is usually Izzie's job; you know…making sure dark and twisty Meredith doesn't get too dark and twisty." She slid her hands through her long hair and glanced up at his sincere face. "But thanks Mark, for asking anyways. I'm doing fine…the good fine. I'm not sure I'm exactly over him but I am definitely going to try this time. No going back whenever he flashes me those mcdreamy eyes and smile." Grinning, she gently poked his folded arms. He looked about to say something but it was then that both their pagers went off and she jumped at the sound. Looking down at the little black electronic she read the words 911 and Bailey. Meredith gave Mark a quick look before putting the object back on her belt and turning around to go down to where she figured Bailey was, Mark following quickly at her side. "What do you think this is about?"

He didn't say anything, just shook his head in uncertainty and continued to walk towards the ambulance entrance. Both pushed past the doors and turned to stare at Bailey who was leaning against the brick wall looking miserable and unhappy about having to wait around in scrubs in the cold snow and chilly winds.

" Took you two long enough." Bailey said crossly. She was glaring at the sound of the ambulance sirens in the distance, no doubt yelling at them to get faster.

Meredith looked around at the courtyard and smiled ironically at Bailey's accusation; they were the first ones out. Alex probably was busy with something and Callie and Hahn had yet to get here. "So whats this about Dr. Bailey?"

The attending glanced over at her and then turned back to staring up at the sky. "Chief said something about multiple trauma patients and a shooting at some restaurant. Don't ask me when and where since I have no idea."

Meredith only widened her eyes at the word shooting and shot Mark a somewhat panicked look, the last time there was a shooting the hospital was packed and they were stuck in the pit all day and all night. He only smiled reassuringly at her and then pulled his gaze away from her face and back to the approaching ambulances backing into the courtyard.

"Alright Grey you take the next one, make sure you page Karev again to tell him to get his ass down here quick or he is going to be an intern all over again. Sloan...help with whatever you can. Where the hell is Sheppard and Torres!"

Everything happened rather fast after that since Meredith's time was now divided between three different patients; one with a gunshot through the leg, another with a small head concussion (which wasn't much but since she didn't have any interns under her she had to monitor the patient herself) and another that she was getting prepped for surgery for a shot to the chest. Alex and Mark had gone off to do some sort of surgery that she wasn't invited to and Torres and Bailey were in another major surgery in the next OR room. Dr. Hahn was scrubbing in on Meredith's patient and was waiting in the washroom while she pushed the gurney with a nurse into the OR room. Meredith wasn't allowed to scrub in on this surgery since she was the only resident on call (Alex in a surgery with Mark) in case more victims show up (didn't make her feel any better since she was missing out on a no doubt amazing cardio surgery) so she was forced to leave and let the nurses finish the prep as her beeper went off multiple times.

She groaned dramatically and began to make her way back down to the pit in hopes that it wasn't another page from the frantic nurse who had no idea what to do so was resorting to paging the only resident she knew of. This was the fourth time the woman had paged Meredith, only to have simple procedures that any nurse should be able to do and she was getting very frustrated with her.

She shook her head and waved at Nurse Tyler who was putting a small bag of fluid near a patient's bed, no doubt getting ready to start an IV. Gaining speed she headed over to the nurses desk and pulled her pager out waving it in front of a small intern. "Who paged me and it had better be for a good reason." The terrified intern didn't say anything but she checked the number on the screen and pointed to the doors in which an EMT was dragging a large man who looked to have a wounded leg. Meredith quickly went over to the left side and helped support some of the weight while listening to the pre medical history that was being given. The man had been found at least a mile from the site and was presumed to have dragged himself away from the shooting before collapsing due to the loss of blood the wound had given him. She quickly brought him into an empty exam room and motioned for the EMT to leave, but not before grabbing a nurse to help.

Meredith gently pushed the man back on the bed and looked at his leg that was covered in fresh and dried blood. The torn jeans were sticking to the wound site so she grabbed a pair of scissors the nurse handed her and cut the irritating fabric away, revealing a hole of about 2 cm in width and looked to be in a weird angle....almost as if someone had shot him in a downward slant. She grimaced and pulled the suture tray closer to the stool where she sat. Her pager went off again and she glanced down at it noticing that it was from Tyler. Standing up quickly she shrugged at the nurse who was busy getting stats on the man and walked out of the room to find the nurse who had paged her.

It didn't take long before she found him, and saw that he was busy talking to a couple of police officers that seemed to be pretty harassed. "What can I help you with Tyler?"

"Dr. Grey, these guys here are looking for a patient that might be the shooter. They say he escaped from the scene but not before they saw the gun accidently go off." She nodded her head before staring at the officers trying to find out more information.

One of them took the hint and motioned to the room filled with patient beds, "We think someone brought him here, all we know is that the gun was pointed down when it went off so whoever he is he probably has a hurt foot or leg. If you can check the charts for someone who resembles that, we could check him out to see if that's our guy."

Meredith closed her eyes for a second before motioning for Tyler to look at the nurse's desk for the patient roster. "I'm sorry I can't be of much help gentlemen, I have a lot on my hands right now so I'm not sure I can tell you everyone who matches that, but Tyler can get you the roster that has all the emitted victims and he can take you around to whomever you need to see. Now if there is anything else I have a patient waiting for a bullet to come out and another with a head injury that needs checking." With that she turned around and made her way back to the exam room with the gunshot man.

"Doctor!"

Meredith looked back over her shoulder, still walking and raised her eyebrows in question.

"The guy, he is armed so if you see anyone like that be careful." She just nodded again and closed the door of the room and went back over to the suture tray pulling on gloves as she did so. _He is armed…_

"Was that the cops?"

She looked up to see that the nurse was no longer there and she was alone with the guy. _A downward shot…foot or a leg…_She nodded again still musing over what the cops had told her wracking her brain to see if she could remember anyone fitting the description.

"What'd they say?"

Meredith glanced over at him and saw that the man's eyes were wide and had an almost hysterical glimmer in them. "Nothing…just that they were looking for the gunner." She went back to examining the wound, not being able to get what bothered her about it. It was a gunshot that probably happened while the guy was standing, but how does a bullet get put into the leg in a downward position? "Sir, can I ask how you got this?"

The man's eyes widened even fuller, if it was possible, and he began trembling…his right hand inching itself under his back. _Downward shot…found a mile from the scene…downward shot…_ Meredith's eyes snapped up to his face, her own eyes widened when she felt the cold metal against her head. She sucked her breath in quickly and put her hands up in front of her in a gesture of backing off.

"You don't need to know how I did this, just fix it."

She gulped and felt the slow trickle of sweat trail down the side of her face. "Sir I can help you, but you need to put the gun down." She winced when she felt the gun being forced into her temple harder and she tried to control her shaking hands.

"Not going to happen, Doc. Just get the bullet out so I can leave this damn place."

Meredith gulped again and shifted slowly in her chair, the gun still positioned at her temple. "I could work a lot faster without the gun pointing at my head."

"Shut up and do what I say, bitch. The gun isn't going anywhere." The man's eyes had now taken on a rather demented look that made her feel even more uncomfortable…if that was possible.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten before grabbing the medium sized tweezers from her chair on her right and gripped them tightly in her hand. "Okay, let's just calm down." She lifted her other hand and grabbed the small needle lying near the previous instrument.

"What's that for?" The gun had been jerked tightly against her soft temple again and she flinched. Closing her eyes again, she tried to even her labored breathing so that it would seem normal and not cause the man to get any jumpier than he already was.

"It's a numbing shot, so that you won't feel anything when I remove the bullet." She was secretly hoping to inject enough numbing liquid into his leg so that when she was finished and he tried to stand up to leave his leg would give out and he would fall; giving her a chance to either get the gun or flee from his prone body….or so she was hoping.

"I don't need any pain meds…just take the damn thing out!"

Meredith flinched again and protested, "The bullet is lodged too deeply into your leg, it would be too painful to go without."

"I said I don't want it so drop the needle, Doc" He gestured with his other hand roughly in an attempt to get rid of the needle in her hand.

"Sir if you would just let me-"

"No. Shut up and get it out."

"But-"

"I said NO!"

Meredith closed her eyes again and raised the hand with the tweezers. "It would make me feel-" It was the last thing she was able to say as she heard the shot echo in the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Richard Webber's head snapped up when he heard the ringing sound of a bullet being shot from a gun some where's in his hospital. He jumped to his feet and ran outside his office to see people cowering with their heads down and their hand covering their knees' a few getting up warily in case the shot would be fired again. His booming voice was heard nearly four hallways down the hall, "What the hell was that people?" He glanced around and noticed that many people had shaken their heads in disbelief and confusion. He strode quickly back to his office and dialed the nurse's station down in the pit. It took a few rings before a shaky voice had answered with a meek and quiet 'hello'.

"Whats going on down there?"

"Sir, I'm not sure. One second everything was fine and then we heard the shot and we all dropped at the sound."

Richard breathed out slowly and asked, "Well do you know if anyone is injured?"

"No sir, I believe everyone is fine here, though I'm not sure about what is going on behind the closed exam rooms. We didn't see any guns or what not sooo"

He let out a breath again and stilled his shaking hands, "Okay well before we do anything we need to notify the police of a possible shooting going on here. Call the station and make sure they hurry…I don't want any one getting hurt in my hospital."

"Yes sir, right away."

Hanging up the phone, he quickly crossed the length of his office and grabbed his white coat before jogging down the stairs to get to where he suspected the shot came from; the pit.

When he reached the floor he warily walked over to the nurse's station and poked the nurse standing at the counter roughly. "You the person I talked to earlier?"

The man looked up and nodded, obviously shaken up. "Yes sir, I called the police; they are on their way with swat teams and such. They said to evacuate the hospital as quickly as possible and they want this place sealed off from the rest of the building in case."

Richard sighed audibly, took the phone near his hand and thrust it into the nurse's hand. "Page all the attendings and the residents and tell them it's a code black. And give the orders to the other floors about evacuating the building through the back entrances; no one comes near this place. After call Mercy West and notify them that we will be transferring patients there." He passed his hands over his short hair and took a look at the anxious faces around him. "Okay people! We need to start evacuating this place immediately; more critical patients are to be moved to the right wing of the hospital first immediate followed by less. Let's make this quick. Those patients in need of surgery and such are to be put in a stretcher and transported to Mercy West!"

Shaking his head at the hurried actions of his staff, he looked over at the group of cops huddled near the corner of the room talking to each other in heated whispers. Growing annoyed, Richard walked quickly over to them demanding that they give him answers.

"Sir, we aren't entirely sure what is going on. A shot was fired from somewhere in that direction but we aren't sure where." The man was pointing to a cluster of small exam rooms, many of them with closed doors. "What we do know is that whoever the shot was fired from is the same shooter at the scene from earlier."

Richard dropped his head and closed his eyes wearily, hoping to god that none of his people were with the man when the shot was fired. He nodded slightly at them and turned around to leave but was confronted with a worried looking Alex and an annoyed Mark.

Mark was the first to speak up, "Chief what exactly is going on? Why the code black?" Behind him Alex was nodding his head, showing that he was just as intrigued as Dr Sloan with the current circumstances.

Richard sighed and motioned to the cops behind him, "I was told we had a gunman in the hospital and we didn't even know. A shot was heard not too long ago from that direction but we have located no source exactly." He looked closely at the both of them, noticing that Alex still had on his sterile scrubs and Marks hands were dripping wet. "What happened to your patient Dr. Sloan?"

Mark shook his head and grimaced wearily, "Coded a few seconds before I got the page about this whole thing."

Richard nodded and turned to look at the group of police walking through the door with black bullet vests on showing the bright white and yellow of the words swat and Seattle PD. One man who was slightly taller than himself broke away from the group and he recognized him as the same man who was chief of police during the bomb incident a few years ago. He smiled briefly and waited for him to come over and discuss the situation with him. Richard didn't wait very long before going into as much of the story as he knew, telling him about when the shot was heard and how far away it was. "We haven't seen any commotion coming from that area since we evacuated most of the staff and patients from the area. It's up to you guys now."

The police chief nodded and was about to turn away when the nurse Tyler ran up to Richard breathing harshly. "Chief we have a problem."

"Well spit it out, what's going on now?"

"Its Dr Grey sir."

Richards head snapped up and he noticed that both Alex and Mark had edged closer listening intently to the new turn the conversation had taken. "What about my resident Tyler?"

"She is missing sir, I haven't seen her since the shot and I've looked everywhere, I've asked everyone and they don't remember seeing her leave and no one knows where she is."

He heard Mark groan behind him and he forced his hands to unclench. "What are you saying exactly? That I might have a missing person's problem on top of this?"

Tyler shook his head and his eyes widened briefly before gesturing to one of the closed rooms where they thought the shot came from. "I think she is over there sir." Richard glared at him and motioned for him to continue despite the growing feeling of dread filling his throat and stomach. "Sir the last time I remember speaking with her was to tell her about the gunman, and then she went back into room 1174…I think. And then the shot was heard not long after…" The nurse didn't need to say anything further about Meredith since the feeling of dread he had begun to feel had now solidified into a feeling of panic. Richard swallowed and turned to stare at the policeman standing near him. The man understood the look without him having to say anything and he hurriedly went over to his squadron recounting the new information so they could form a plan.

"Chief? Sir? Does this mean that Meredith is with the shooter?"

Richard twisted to look at Alex Karev and he slowly nodded his head, showing that he was fairly sure that was the case. He glanced at Sloan and saw the brief look of absolute horror flit across his features and then one of disbelief and worry settled quickly in its place. The look was so fleeting that if Richard had not been standing so close to the man he would have thought they were figments of his imagination. But now he understood why Mark had chosen to stay in Seattle after Addison had left and Derek was still refusing to let things in the past go. He had stayed for Meredith even if he hadn't realized it himself and now Richard felt his heart go out to the young man. This must be hell for him. "Sloan, you alright there?"

Mark looked up and confusion briefly flitted over his handsome features. "What chief? Oh yeah…I'm umm fine."

Richard turned back to look at the police chief striding towards him and he felt that dreadful knot tightened in his stomach knowing that whatever the man had to say wouldn't be anything he liked.

"We have to get in there before another shot is fired from that gun and now that we know where the guy is we can hopefully extract him using our swat team."

Richard's mouth hung open slightly but it was Mark who jumped into the conversation voicing what was running through his own head. "You can't just barge into that room, there aren't any exits! Are you trying to get Meredith Grey killed? What if he shoots her?"

The man shook his head and slightly glared at Mark when he noticed the angry tone he had put into his words. "We can't help that. Would you rather kill hundreds of people of the sake of one or save hundreds and take the chance of losing that one person?"

Mark angrily clenched his fists and Alex took a threatening step forward obviously thinking the same thing as his boss. "That's Meredith in there! You need to find another way." Richard nodded his agreement and heard the soft growl of anger coming from Sloan's chest.

"I'm sorry, but we have to prepare for the scenario that she might already be gone, there was a shot fired already. We can't take the chance that the gunman shoots again. I really am sorry about your friend but I can't do anythi-" His speech was interrupted by an angry shout and another shot being fired from the same direction as the first. Richard and Mark literally stepped back as if it actually hit them and couldn't believe what they had just heard. The police chief-Jack Sansva-ran over to his team and assembled them quickly in front of the room Tyler had pointed out.

No one made a sound hoping to hear something from the other room…something that would give them a hint of what was going on inside. It was a few seconds after, which felt like minutes, they head a brief scuffle and a body hitting the floor of the room. Richard's mind had already thought of all the possible situations in which a body would fall after a gunshot and he hoped that it was the shooter falling and not Grey. He looked over at Mark and noticed how pale his face had grown in the few seconds everything happened.

He heard the sharp intake of breath and he figured that Alex would probably look just as bad as Sloan…maybe; he wasn't sure how much Mark had figured out of his feelings for the resident but Richard could put his money right now on how much the man was coming to realize all too quickly.

Chief Sansva motioned for all three men to move backwards towards the nurses' station and out of firing range of the room. They moved back but none of them could tear their eyes off from the door. Finally Richard was able to come to his senses and he beckoned for Tyler to grab a free gurney and med kit. If their worst fears were realized within the next few minutes, Richard would be in a hurry to get Grey out of the room and into an OR.

It didn't take long for the swat team to assemble in front of the door and it didn't take very long for the chief to motion that they should proceed. Everything happened in a matter of seconds; the breaking down of the door, the scuffles, a couple of quick shots from multiple guns, then a hard thud of a single body falling to the floor and then the yelling of 'clear' ringing out in the silence afterwards. Richard waited until he heard the 'oh my god' from inside and hurriedly grabbed the gurney and motioned for Mark, Alex and Tyler to follow him.

Richard quickly raced the wheels of the gurney into the room, pushing through the cluttered groups of the swat team. He held his arm out and surveyed the small room, his eyes falling on the prone body of a middle aged man with multiple bullet wounds. A couple of cops stood by the form checking the pulse but Richard didn't wait long to watch; he looked for the telltale signs of blonde hair streaked with blood and a small body haphazardly leaning against the wall. And that was exactly how he found her, semi conscious and holding an arm over a wound in her chest and another in her leg. He heard the horrified gasps of Alex but again he didn't wait to assess the situation; he jumped right over next to her body and gently lifted it onto the stretcher.

----

She moaned, waking up in pain after so obviously being moved and jangled around as the four men rolled her out of the room and into a nearby elevator. Her eyes felt heavy lidded and she forced herself to open them and examine where she was. She figured they were in the elevator before since she had heard the doors open and close and the light ding of the floor meter, and she knew there were doctors around her since she could hear them but she didn't know who they were, though the voices were familiar.

Her green eyes traveled to the nearest hand on her left and followed it up to the frenzied face of Richard Webber, chief of surgery. He was applying pressure to her wound on her chest and breathing heavily from the exertion it took to overcome the feeling of dread he must be feeling. She figured this only because she was a doctor herself, and she knew she was not in the best shape…definitely not the best shape. She shifted her eyes to study Alex as he helped Nurse Tyler to put pressure on her leg where the first bullet had entered her body.

She moaned again when she felt another slight tremor shake her body as it felt the effects of losing too much blood in too short of time. Meredith fought to stay conscious and succeeded in opening her eyes again. Instead of focusing on the three people she already recognized, she shifted her attention to the fourth person in the elevator with her; Mark. Her heart broke slightly at the look of desperation and hopelessness she saw shift in his eyes every now and then, especially whenever Richard mentioned something about her entry wounds and what may lie beneath; what internal bleeding could be going on. He was the only one not touching her body and she felt that was only because he might be scared to do any more damage to her than she already had.

Meredith slowly lifted her hand and placed three of her fingers (the only ones she was able to lift up) and resting them lightly on top of Marks white knuckles. His hand jerked away from her for a second before his attention focused on her looking surprised that she was awake at all. She licked her dry lips slowly and whispered his name ever so softly telling him that she was there.

He grabbed her hand quickly and roughly then squeezed, "Meredith?"

She nodded her head, or at least she tried to but since she was lying on a flat bed and didn't have very much energy to move anything at all she was sure that whatever movement she was able to make with her head translated into a nod. But he seemed to understand since she felt him squeeze her hand again. She curved her lips slightly when she realized he had just called her by her first name, not her usual last name.

"Hey, how's my fellow mistress?"

She fought to keep her eyes open but her attempts failed and she felt them close automatically over her eyes. "I've been better…much bett-" She broke off in a fit of coughing and then gave up talking all together when Richard yelled at her for trying to do something she shouldn't be doing. Meredith heard the doors open and she felt herself being wheeled out of the elevator as fast as they could, no doubt towards the OR. She sensed herself fading out of consciousness quickly and she tried to center on the feeling of his hands clutching hers. "Mark…"

"Come on Meredith stay with us, you'll be fine, I know you will." She smiled one last time at him before she felt the inky blackness of unconsciousness overtake her other senses. The last thing she heard was Richard and Mark yelling her name at the same time.

------

Meredith cautiously opened her eyes, wincing at the bright artificial lights of the hospital. She tried to adjust to her surroundings but her mind fought to bring her attention on the fact that she now had a tube sticking out of her throat. Gagging in reflex, she moved her IV hand up to inspect the rubber tubing that was currently helping her breath…not that she had much to worry about in that department since she could feel her chest moving of its own accord. When she dropped her hand, everything came back to her with a stunningly ferocious twist and she winced in pain (mental and physical). Everything that had happened, happened so fast and yet she felt that when it all replayed in super slow motion in her mind…the shots being fired, the look of terror and anger that had replaced the man's face when he realized what he had done to her, and then the new sensation of a fierce burning where both bullets had entered her body…Meredith winced again and forced herself to keep her mind blank.

She stiffly lifted her other hand and poked her abdomen where the second bullet had entered, searching for the long cut she knew went along with the surgery she was forced to be put through. The stitches running about 5 inches or so down her right side were stiff and unfamiliar to her and she closed her eyes in pain. Around the stitches, her skin felt raw and burned when she brushed her fingers tips across the smooth skin. Meredith grimaced and moved her hand away and down towards where the man had first shot her. Nothing was different except for the fact that she had a small stitch the size of a bullet. She hesitantly shifted her leg muscles and sighed in relief when she felt it move, even if it was a slightly delayed reaction. No paralysis! She hoped desperately that it would remain that way instead of going through post trauma complications like infection and such that could have a detrimental effect to her full recovery….Meredith closed her eyes and silently cursed herself; sometimes it sucked being a doctor since she could asses herself.

Her eyes still closed, she settled more comfortably onto her pillow and listened to the gentle rhythm of the heart monitor beeping her steady pulse. It didn't take long before she felt herself drifting off into a somewhat fitful sleep and she continued tossing and turning until she was rudely awakened by the slamming of her room door. Meredith forced her eyes to open and she watched as her best friend crossed the room to stand in front of her bed. Christina looked livid and scared and determined all at the same time, and Meredith couldn't help but smile to herself at her friend's so called tough exterior. She braced herself and waited for the explosion she was sure would be coming her way very soon.

"What do you think you were doing? You can't be a hero Meredith! I told YOU not to be the hero and what do you do? You get yourself frickin SHOT!" Christina was breathing heavily and her face had turned a bright red color in her anger.

Meredith shook her head and pointed to the tube, hoping that her friend would get the hint and pull the damn thing out of her so she could speak.

Christina glared harder if it was possible and crossed her arms stubbornly on her chest. "Oh no, you don't get to talk this time. You get to shut up and be the stupid hero that you are and listen to the ranting of your 'person' who is still very pissed at you. This is…this is entirely your fault…"

Meredith shot her a confusing look and motioned again for the tube to be pulled out. Christina now had tears in her eyes and she was torn between smiling in humor at her friend's reaction and desperation to move so that she could comfort her.

"You're my PERSON! What would I have done if you had actually left me here to take care of myself?" She was now furiously brushing her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the drops of water falling from the corners of her brown eyes. "What would I have done if you had di…"

Meredith was now pulling at the tubes, trying to take them out herself so that she could talk, her heart aching when she watched her friend slowly break from the stress she must have felt during the long surgery and the even longer recovery period (or so Meredith figured.) She had just succeeded in pulling the tube about an inch from her throat when she gagged and struggled to breathe right. Christina had stopped wiping her eyes and quickly approached the bedside and braced her hand on Meredith's upper chest forcing her to sit back and calm down.

"Dammit Meredith I told you to wait." Christina gently pulled the tube away from her throat and watched as Meredith quickly caught her breath and regulated her pounding heart beat. When she was able to talk she whispered roughly a small 'I'm sorry' to her friend and let a few tears trickle down her own cheeks.

She gulped briefly and opened her mouth louder and the voice that came out was soft and uneven from the rawness in her throat and disuse. "I'm so sorry Christina, but you have to believe me when I say that I wasn't trying to be a hero…if anything it felt like I was doing the exact opposite." She coughed every few breaths and Christine quickly kept an eye on the monitor near her. Meredith reached her hand to hold the trembling ones of her person soothing her without saying anything.

Christina gulped and turned her tear streaked face back to Meredith and let out a shaky breathe that she had no idea she was holding. "It's okay Mere, really…just don't do it again or I will be forced to kick your skinny ass back to wherever it is you're from." Christina paused and continued softly, "Just don't do it again, hell the man I loved left me not even two weeks ago and now you have the nerve to pull something like this." Meredith smiled gently at her and squeezed her hand. The brief amount of effort it took to do just that little gesture completely drained her strength and she let her hand flop uselessly down on the mattress.

Christina noticed this and pushed the small red button for the pain meds to kick in then backed away to stand at the foot of the bed. She grabbed the chart resting there and quietly perused the contents, completely unaware of Meredith's eyes on hers.

"How bad is it Chris?"

The Asian woman looked up with sad and worried eyes and dropped them back down to the chart. "Its not good…I mean you're not going to die any time soon but… "

"Chris."

Sighing Christina placed the paper back on the bed frame and crossed her arms over her chest again. "You crashed twice, one on the way to the OR and another when they were taking the bullet out of your chest. You want the truth? Hahn is worried about your heart; the surgery put a lot of stress on it and she isn't sure it is quite as strong as it used to be. Though it will heal…but right now it needs to be monitored. "

Meredith nodded her head in understanding and closed her eyes trying not to think about how she got the injuries. "Well since I work here I expect better food."

Christina smiled and laughed at the weak joke but she knew that something was bothering her friend, but she had rounds so she was forced to bring it up another time. "Hey, are you okay without me? I have rounds with Bailey and the others today. We get the damn interns in a month so she is supposed to give us some lecture on how to deal with them appropriately."

Meredith nodded her head and smiled in thanks at her friend before letting herself to drift in and out of sleep.

---

When she woke up next she felt someone in the room next to her. Meredith quickly opened her eyes and searched until she found the source of the quiet breathing; Derek. He lifted his head tiredly when he noticed that she was staring at him and stretched his mouth into a thin smile.

"Hey"

"HI"

"How are you feeling?"

Meredith closed her eyes and shook her head, "Derek…don't do this."

He looked at her in confusion and brought his hand to run it through his perfect brown hair. "Do what Meredith? I just asked how you were doing."

She sighed in slight exasperation and stared into his eyes willing he understand what she was talking about, "This, Derek. The niceties and the talking back and forth as if we are fine, because we aren't…I already told you this on the phone, and even before that."

He sighed loudly and moved to scoot further into his chair. "Oh come on, you were shot, I think I have every reason to want to know how you are."

"No you don't, I know why you're here. You think now that I've had a near death experience I might have changed my outlook on life and in particular us. But Derek there isn't any us…not anymore. Besides you cheated…so no more."

"What do you mean there isn't any us? You can't just act like we never happened because we did." He was now standing and pacing back and forth in irritation. "Meredith we didn't even talk about this."

She puffed her breath out in annoyed beats as she watched the man she had loved become the person she had fallen out of love with. "I'm sorry, but there isn't anything to talk about. I was clear when I told you before the wedding that we weren't together anymore, I was even more sure when I told you the same thing over the phone, and I am absolutely certain while I lay here telling you now."

"Meredith… you can't be serious! I told you I loved you and that I was willing to deal with all the emotional crap that you have."

She snapped her eyes to his face and narrowed them in anger. "That's exactly why, Derek. Because you can't take me for me, you have to make a big deal about everything and then when I actually need you, you tell me that I'm the one over reacting and that I should grow a spine or something." She softened her voice and opened her eyes to gaze at him in a friendly manner, "I used to love you…before the whole Addison thing changed everything, I thought you were the one I was supposed to grow old with. But you changed, and I changed because of it and we don't fit anymore."

"But we do, we work Meredith!"

"No Derek we used to work."

"So you're going to fucking act like it never happened?" He angrily shuffled his feet and turned a bright glare at her direction.

"No, I can't do that, but I can move on like we are supposed to. Meet new people who are willing to give us what we could never give each other."

"You mean whore around…"

Meredith gasped as if he had slapped her, angry tears escaped her eyes and she opened her mouth to retort something but she was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. She watched for movement and told whoever it was that they could come in. She was surprised to see that it was Mark who walked through the door, nervously glancing between Derek and her.

"I'm sorry Grey, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I will leave and come back later."

She shook her head and glared at Derek hoping he got the hint. "No its fine, Dr Sheppard was just leaving."

Derek looked ready to say something but he shut his mouth and returned her glare before shoving past Mark to get through the door. Meredith sighed heavily and closed her eyes briefly thankful that he had left, but she figured this would definitely not be the last time they had this conversation. Especially since Derek seemed hell-bent on not letting it go. Mark wearily went over and dropped into the chair that Derek had just vacated.

"Sooo…."

She turned her head to look at him and grimaced when she realized he must have heard at least half of that conversation. "You heard that didn't you?"

He smiled lightly and nodded.

"Ugh, Derek he is just sooo…..frustrating."

"He loves you Grey, and he wants to fight for you guys."

She shook her head wearily and shifted so that she could reach the pain medicine button on her right. Meredith pushed it once, not wanting to rely on pain meds, and turned back to look at Mark. "No he is in love with what we used to be. He still thinks we can go back to the elevator love thing and the trailer in the woods, and the dreamy looks that were given between us….the us that was us before Addison came."

"Isn't that who you are now?"

"No he broke me when he said he was getting back together with her, and when you came and he stopped trying well….he was different. And then we tried again but it didn't work because whatever he had done to me wouldn't go away and he was too caught up in himself…and then there was the whole Christina/Burke thing and then…it was just not happening like what we wanted. We weren't the same anymore so trying to go backwards and not forwards and it wasn't helping us…it was actually breaking us apart…if that makes any sense at all, and sorry I'm rambling."

Mark laughed lightly at her weak attempt to make a joke but his eyes remained serious. "There isn't any chance?"

Meredith shot him a confused look and then she saw what he was looking for. "Derek wants you to find out doesn't he?"

Mark looked rather panicked at the thought and shook his head hurriedly.

"Yes he did, don't lie."

He stared at her for a few minutes and then sighed. "He asked me to try, but I only agreed since he is my best friend…I know that you guys are done. I could tell right away; I saw that he was only upset about not being able to break it off himself."

She nodded her head sadly, "See he knows it but he doesn't want to deal with the fact that it's done and he couldn't do anything about it. I don't think he really wants to. But anyways you're depressing me Sloan and that's horrible bed side manners."

He laughed loudly and shifted in his seat grinning at her. "Well you know me Grey, don't really care all that much about how my patients see me."

Her eyes widened in mock annoyance and her mouth curved into a true smile since Derek had left. "Oh so now I'm a patient?"

He leered in her direction and flashed the smile that made him Mcsteamy, "Do you want to be? I treat my….special patients…very well…the best doctor in this hospital actually."

She laughed out right at his flirty tone but grimaced when her stitches felt like it was being ripped from her chest. Mark stood up looking worried and she had to lift her hand in repudiation to make him sit back down.

"Grey? You all right there?"

She swallowed the smile lump of bile that had built up behind her throat when the first wave of pain had hit her and nodded slowly. "Yeah I think so, laughing just hurt that's all."

"Ouch, burn Grey! I don't think I have ever been told my sense of humor put people in literal pain."

Meredith smiled at his playful tone, but she still noticed the slight tremble in his words that gave his worry away to her. It was then that the look in his eyes when she was talking to him while they were rolling her to the OR came back and she swore she still felt his warm hands holding her cold ones.

"Mark…"

He looked rather worried that he had shown too much in his face so he quickly flashed her a bright smile and stood up from his seat. "Sorry Grey, but I have a facial reconstruction to scrub in on. I just came by to see how you were doing." He turned to leave but then stopped and looked back at her disappointed face. He hated to see her like this…in a hospital bed and an iv in her arm and everything, but he wasn't sure he could handle himself around her yet. Especially after the terror when she had coded a couple of times. Instead, he grinned his signature smile and pointed his fingers at her. "If you're lucky, I might stop later on to show you my amazing beside manners!"

She giggled lightly at him and then made lazy shoeing motions with her hands, silently telling him to leave or he would be late. She watched him disappear and couldn't help but feel lonely; between everything with Derek and Christina she could really have used Mark's ability to simply make her smile right now. But she knew it wasn't fair to monopolize him so she shut her eyes and let her thoughts drift from surgeries and the warm silky feeling of her sheets back home and how nice it would be to be lying there and not here right now.

----

It was pretty late when she woke up and opened her eyes to see that George, Christina, Izzie and Alex were all in the room conversing lightly while eating their dinner. Meredith narrowed her eyes slightly at them and dryly said, "Is my room a hotel service or something?"

George quickly dropped his sandwich he had brought up to his face and turned around so that he could look at her without craning his neck in the process. "Mere! You're finally up!"

Christina chuckled quietly at her friends annoyed face and at the chirpy voice of the other man. Izzie had that smile where she looked about to either cry or laugh hysterically and Alex just looked thoughtful.

Meredith shrugged her shoulders slightly and smiled at them. "Hey guys. Am I replacing old guy or something?"

Izzie quickly shook her head and beamed at her, "Nope old guy is still there, but we figured that you might like some company but….you were sleeping so we figured you wouldn't mind us staying."

George nodded his head nervously looking between Christina's amused face and Meredith's exasperated one.

Meredith studied each of them thoughtfully and finally shrugged her shoulders, falling back against her pillow. "It's fine. Just don't think I will make much contribution to the conversation…I'm a little worn out."

"Do you want us to leave?"Izzie looked rather nervous and fiddled with her chip bag in her hand.

"No its fine." Meredith closed her eyes but not before seeing a look pass between Izzie and George. She sighed and shifted so the she could look at them better, smiling when she turned.

"Soooo, Mere, who else has been to visit today?"

Meredith grimaced and threw Christina a nasty look. "No one."

"But I heard that both Mcdreamy and Mcsteamy dropped by…"

She closed her eyes and wished that she was somewhere other than at Seattle Grace for once where everyone's personal life was put on display by the nursing staff. "Oh yeah I forgot about those guys."

Izzie perked up at the mention of Mcdreamy and gave Meredith an assessing look. "What was Derek doing here? Thought you guys broke up."

"We did…he just wanted to…make it official I guess."

"Official?"

Meredith closed her eyes and sighed evenly. "Yeah he needed to see that I wasn't going to run back to him at any sign something bad happened in my life…like last time."

Izzie nodded and continued to munch on her chips. Christina, however, took great pleasure in seeing Derek beg so she pushed on hoping to get any juicy details from her friend. "What did he expect? You to crawl right back to him saying you made a mistake?"

Sighing Meredith looked at the darkness that was Seattle during the night, "Yeah I guess you could put it that way. He didn't think it was real…even after the phone call on vaca."

Christina laughed out loud but the rest looked at her confusingly. "Mere bite his head off cause he was calling nonstop in the Bahamas, yelled at him for like an hour and then hung up…he wasn't very happy afterwards."

Alex laughed loudly and took another bite of his sandwich choosing not to say anything.

"Yeah well I hope he figured it out today…not sure I can keep telling him. But anyways…..talk about something else."

"McSteamy."

Meredith groaned and shifted again in her bed, "What about him? He just dropped by to see if I was doing okay…since he was there after…you know. If you don't believe me ask Alex."

Alex nodded his head but he had a very unhappy look on his face that told the others to drop the conversation all together. Meredith had noticed it too and gave him a thankful glance before shutting her eyes again. "Tell me about you're amazing surgeries I am missing out on."

Everyone jumped into the conversation quickly and they spent at least another hour talking about the past couple of days that Meredith had been asleep. Hospital gossip had kept everyone entertained and the amount of work they had been given by Bailey to study up on was more than enough to keep them busy. She learned that Bailey would stop by early tomorrow to give the same to Meredith and she would have to work on it while she stayed here…kind of like homework so she didn't get rusty. She also learned that they would get interns around the same time Meredith hoped to be returning back to the hospital. When all their pagers went off they quickly apologized to her and fled out the room in a hurry, no doubt hoping to get the best surgery they could. Meredith was just about to shut her eyes and hope to fall asleep when she noticed that Alex had stayed behind and was watching her intently.

"Alex? Whats wrong?"

He grimaced and walked up closer to her bed, shifting on his feet as he did so. "Nothing is wrong…I just wanted to…shit I'm honestly not sure." He laughed bitterly and turned away from her bed, going back to the doorway.

"Alex I wanted to thank you…for you know…helping me back there."

He blinked in confusion and turned back to face her. "For what?"

Meredith smiled, "For turning the conversation away from what happened. I'm not ready to talk about…well yeah you get it soooo thanks."

Alex smiled and shook his head slowly, "You don't need to thank me, and I don't really want to talk about it either. Some scary shit happened that day and I'm not sure I want to relive the time where I almost lost one of my best friends."

Her eyes teared up slightly and she nodded not being able to say anything since Alex told her she was his best friend…or one of them, but that wasn't the point.

"Anyways Grey, feel better. I'll come and check on you now and then." He grinned and turned back to the door and walked to wherever he was paged to.

Meanwhile Meredith was still staring at where he had just stood, tears rolling down her face. She smiled again and let her eyelids fall before drifting into another fitful dreamlike state where the nightmares of guns and men haunted her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It had been a full week since her first visits with her friends and Meredith was now feeling that if she didn't leave the hospital soon she would have to be transferred to the psych ward instead of the recovery hall. The people in this place were driving her nuts; always dropping in on random intervals throughout the day , waking her up for no reason whatsoever but to ask if she was feeling okay, and then the different gossip going on about her and her…men…problems were enough to drive her crazy without anything else. Plus Derek had taken advantage of the fact that she was bed ridden and decided that he could and would talk to her whenever he wanted to about their relationship. It had gotten so bad that Meredith even begged Richard to bar him from the room, and he had…at least until Derek took it upon himself to review her brain recovery…which wasn't even necessary since she had gotten shot in the chest and leg. _Nothing to do with the brain and its activity whatsoever! _

Christina was taking way too much amusement with the whole Derek thing and dropped by almost every hour just to see if she could catch one of their infamous arguments. She was hoping to butt into one so that she could give him a piece of her mind…not that she didn't do that on a regular basis anyways, but she usually managed to miss them by 5 minutes.

The only one of her friends that didn't give her headaches was Alex and that was because he didn't want to know anything about her life/drama. Not that he wasn't interested; he just never pushed. If she wanted to rant and rave about something, he would sit and listen and add a couple of suggestions or comments in between and when she was finished he would say a one liner and then switch the topic. And she loved him for that; he wasn't asking something from her that everyone else was.

Oh and then there was Mark Sloan; plastic surgeon extraordinaire, handsome playboy, supportive friend and someone Meredith was beginning to develop closer feelings for. He stopped by at least twice a day if he could, and she welcomed each visit with excitement since he was beginning to become the highlight of her boring day…but after each one she was left more confused with herself than she was before he even stepped foot in her doorway. They didn't talk about much, just the day's events like some awesome surgery he shoved in her face or Derek, and sometimes about herself or him.

Meredith sighed exasperatedly and shifted uncomfortably in her bed, wishing that she could jump out of bed and run for the exit of the building in hopes of going home. As if he heard her thoughts exactly Richard Webber walked in holding some papers and a large smile on his face.

"Meredith, I have some great news for you that I bet you are just dying to hear!"

She shrugged and waited impatiently for him to continue; hoping that whatever he wanted to say would make her day.

"You're going to be discharged." He was smiling as he said this and Meredith matched his grin, giving him a happy chuckle in response to his own eagerness. "I have the papers here and everything…but before you get too excited I have to tell you that you are going to be banned from the hospital for another two weeks."

She groaned in response and opened her mouth to say something but he beat her to it. "That isn't negotiable Dr Grey. You aren't allowed into this hospital until I am certain that your injuries won't affect your work. Besides two weeks inst that much, it will give you time to rest and do something other than live in this place."

Meredith sighed, "Alright Chief, where do I sign?"

Richard laughed and held the papers up, handing them to her while he chattered on about the rules of being discharged. No driving for a couple days after, no strenuous activities and so on. Since she was usually telling them to her patients, Meredith knew them by heart so she was sure that he was only repeating them because protocol demanded it of him. When he was finished she was told to wait until a nurse dropped by to take the IV out of her arm and then she was free to go.

Richard hung out for a few more minutes talking to her about random stuff before leaving when the nurse got there, telling her to see him when her two weeks were up, and if she needed anything in the meantime to give him and Adele a call. She nodded and thanked him gratefully while waiting for the nurse to finish up.

When she was finished Meredith all but jumped from the bed and walked over to her clothing she had Izzie bring in for her just for this day and pulled out her light faded jeans and a sweatshirt. While pulling her cami over her bandages, she winced slightly feeling the tug and pressure that the job put on her stitches. While she was bending over for her jeans she gasped in pain for her leg and was left to sit on the ground with one pant leg on and the other up. It took her another ten minutes to zip them up and pull the sweatshirt on and by the end of it she could feel a thin sheen of sweat grace her forehead from the effort she put into it.

Meredith quickly grabbed her purse and left the nightgown on the end of the bed. She didn't look back while she left since she felt that she never wanted to be a patient in this hospital ever again. While she was walking to the exit, many people stopped her, congratulating her on a full recovery and exclaiming over the whole code black thing. Thankfully she didn't pass Derek or anyone she was hoping to avoid but when she got the entrance she stopped and silently yelled at herself for forgetting the one rule that told her that she wasn't allowed to drive. She quickly fished out her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Izzie's number, hoping to get a ride to their shared house. But she only got the voicemail so Meredith was forced to leave a message, hoping her friend would get it sooner than later.

She grimaced in distaste as she realized that she would have to sit and wait for Izzie or take a cab, but when she pulled her phone out to call a taxi service Mark stopped near her elbow and gave her a strange look.

"What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed or did you sneak out?"

She growled softly at him and narrowed her eyes, "I did not sneak anywhere's, I was discharged by the Chief but Izzie isn't picking up and Alex is working right now…and I can't drive soooo I'm stuck in this damn place for longer than I wanted to be, yet again."

He considered her for a few seconds as she angrily dialed her phone but he reached over and closed it as she put in up to her ear.

"What the hell Mark?"

"Don't worry about a cab, I will take you home…or wherever it is that you need to go."

Meredith stood there with her mouth partially open, staring at him in complete surprise. "Seriously?"

He nodded his head and smiled at her perplexed face. "No strings attached or anything. You need a ride and I'm done work soooo I would be an ass if I didn't offer."

Meredith smirked evilly at him and threw her phone into her purse. "Aren't you usually an ass anyways?"

He glared at her from over her head, stopping to hold open the door so he could follow her out. "Hey no back talk or you're on your own again. It just so happens that I'm in a rather generous mood tonight since I had an amazing surgery that I performed."

She matched his glare and half walked/half limped out the doors towards where the staff parked their cars, looking for his silver Porsche. When she saw it, she glanced critically at him, raising her eyebrows.

"What?"

She shrugged slightly and waited as he opened the door for her and she slowly lowered herself onto the seat, grimacing as she felt the bandages in on her chest rub against the raw flesh around her stitches. When he closed the door for her, she took the opportunity to check out Mark Sloan's infamous playboy car, but she was disappointed when she saw that it was just like any other car she had been in…besides the fact that the black leather seat covers where unblemished and perfectly taken care of and the interior of the car was spotless; no dirt what so ever on the floors (not counting the dirt her shoes brought in from the muddy snow outside) and there didn't seem to be an ounce of dust on the mantle. Mark had stepped inside and was watching her observations with an amused quirk of his eyebrow and he chuckled when she blushed slightly when she caught him watching.

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be snoopy or anything…I just heard soooo much about the _car _from the nurses and such that I am not proud to admit that I was curious…I don't know why this reminds me way too much of a surgeon's car…spotless and pristine."

He shrugged and put his keys in the ignition before turning to stare at her again. Meredith shifted again in her seat, uncomfortable with his eyes on her for a reason she didn't know.

"What?"

Mark laughed and held his hands out in question, "Where to?"

She frowned at him briefly and then with a look of obvious amusement pointed to the west entrance of the hospital explaining to him a vague description on how to get to her house. She stopped in the middle of her explanation and frowned at him in disbelief. "Wait…you've never been to my house before Sloan? Not even with Derek?"

He laughed again and shook his head, starting the engine and turning out of the parking lot following the first steps in her directions. "I had no reason to, besides me and Derek were never all that close when you guys were dating, I mean we were friends yeah, but he never wanted me to hang out with you or your friends…so again, no reason."

She scowled at him in mock annoyance and then lifted her eyebrow when a thought came to her, "Not even when you were exploring the idea of starting an official meeting of the dirty mistress club?"

Mark gave her a guarded look and turned back to look at the flashing lights of the traffic lights in front of him. "Grey, you know that wasn't going to happen."

Meredith glanced at him from the corner of her eye and nodded, not liking the turn in mood her teasing question had brought out in Mark. "I know I remember…all Addison."

"Yeah Addison…" He didn't say anything and she choose not to push him as it was none of her business when it came to his relationships…or lack thereof.

She sighed and leaned her warm forehead on the cold glass of the window and let her thoughts drift in and out of focus when all of a sudden his voice brought her back into the present.

"Do you miss him?"

Meredith gave him a look mixed with confusion and brief anger when she realized who he was talking about. She didn't answer him, just turned back to the window and watched the other cars pass by his.

"Hey…I mean I know it's none of my business but you've just seemed…off your game lately."

She sighed, and closed her eyes and when she spoke her voice wasn't above a whisper, "My game?"

Mark looked over at her trying to assess whether or not she was okay with his question…or remark. He didn't find anything in her face since she had closed her expressions up and she now faced the opposite direction. "Yeah well I know I'm not the best observer and definitely not the best person when it comes to this stuff, but I know what it's like to be thrown away."

"I broke up with him remember?"

He shook his head, "Yeah and I broke up with Addison but we both know that it wasn't I who wanted to."

"He said he loved me, but asked me to break up with him if I couldn't commit like he wanted…so I think I was the cold one."

"He asked?"

She nodded and moved her hand to its position over her bandages, fingering the cloth absentmindedly. "He said I kept leaving him. And then when I told him it wasn't true, he sleep with my half sister. "

Mark scowled and tightened his hands on the wheel. "And yet he is there wanting you back even though he asked you to set him free…I really don't understand Derek, I mean I thought I did but I'm not sure anymore. What I'm not getting is why he asked you that if he can't accept it now?"

Meredith shook her head and leaned it back on the glass, letting the cold seep into her body. She didn't answer right away, letting his question seep into her thoughts, but she did point out the road he needed to take to get to her house. It was a few minutes before she replied and when she did Mark had to strain his ears to catch every soft word that left her lips. "He wanted me to tell him that our relationship was perfect…fairy tale perfect. Better yet he wanted what we used to have before Addison showed up and he wanted me to want that too. But I don't and can't do that…I'm not the person I was back then and I don't think he has gotten over that."

He was silent as he let himself absorb her words, considering her point of view on a topic he only heard from Derek's side. "So basically it all goes back to Addison some way or another."

She shifted her gaze back over to him and smiled briefly, "Yeah I guess it does."

He nodded his head, and stayed quiet as he watched the yellow lines on the road and the houses that lined the empty street. When her house came into view, he pulled into her driveway and turned his car off staring ahead of him for a second. Her voice brought him back and he turned to look at her, admiring her strength.

"We will get our own happily ever after's…just not with them. Besides it only hurts now but I'm sure we will be fine sooner or later." She smiled a sad smile at him and pulled her door open, waving softly in farewell.

He watched her limp slowly up to her door and he watched as she turned back, giving him a smile before pushing through her door and into the darkness that was her empty house. His eyes didn't leave the spot where she disappeared while his mind kept replaying her last words back to him in a gentle flow. He shook his head lightly and revved his engine, forcing himself out of the stupor she put him in and pulled out of her driveway. The entire way back to the hotel his mind wouldn't let him stray from a certain dirty haired blonde with sad green eyes and a hopeful smile.


	4. Chapter 4

~I sincerely apologize for taking so freakin long to update, but I had sooo much crap to deal with the past couple of months and then add on college classes…soo yeah, here you go…if your still there haha

Chapter 4

Four days after she returned home, Meredith was officially bored out of her mind; she had roped Izzie into teaching her how to bake (which wasn't working out very well since she had burnt everything she came in contact with and irritated the hell out of her teacher), joined Alex in watching sports with him in the evening until he kicked her out for asking too many questions during the game, Christina was avoiding her since she figured a bored and antsy Meredith was worse than any phase her best friend could go through…and George was just George…not knowing exactly what she needed and not really understanding why he wasn't much of a help to her.

She was now lying on her bed, 5 o'clock in the evening and pretty much banned from every room in her own house by the people she called friends. Meredith sighed loudly and shifted her position on the mattress, turning to face her closet; she contemplated if she dared face the wrath of everyone she knew and go out for a bit. She was still technically supposed to be bed ridden, doing nothing that took the chance of opening her stitches up or inviting bacteria where they weren't supposed to go. Sighing loudly again in hopes that someone downstairs would hear her, she sat and listened to the sounds but nothing showed her that they were paying any attention to her whatsoever. Meredith sat up abruptly, clutching her chest in pain for a second and limped over to her closet, looking for whatever seemed good enough to spend the rest of the evening at a bar…even if it was just Joes. Making up her mind, she selected simple skinny blue jeans, a maroon tank top and a white see through long sleeve and tossed her pajamas into the corner while pulling on what she picked out quickly.

When she finished, she slowly walked over to her mirror and threw her hair up in a loose ponytail but decided against it and just left it in soft curls that trailed across her shoulders. Satisfied that she looked presentable and not like she was going out of her mind, Meredith snatched her purse from her dresser and opened her door, making her way down the stair case and over to the coat rack. She quickly searched for her coat and hurriedly slipped it onto her shoulders, cringing slightly when she pulled her bandages tight around her. After finishing her job, she grabbed her keys and quietly tiptoed over to the door and tried to open it without alerting anyone to her actions.

"What do you think you're doing Meredith Grey?"

She cringed at hearing the disapproving tone of her roommate and friend, and sheepishly turned around to face Izzie. "Umm nothing…"

Izzie's hard stare wasn't eased up with Meredith's assurance and she put both of her hands on her hips, sort of mimicking an angry mother who just caught her misbehaving teenager trying to sneak out of the house during restriction. "You're not supposed to leave the house, and even if you do you can't be driving…you know that."

Meredith frowned, annoyed at Izzie's tone and felt herself and her memories transported back to when she was a teenager…except she had pink hair and black clothing and her mother never cared to stop her from doing anything, let alone follow her to the door. "I'm going out, okay. I am allowed to do what I want and I will call a damn cab."

"You're not going anywhere's under my watch."

Meredith closed her eyes and tried to even her breath and control her tongue from snapping at Izzie, but it was getting hard not to. "I will be fine, Iz."

Izzie crossed her arms and moved her feet more solidly on the hard wood floor, telling Meredith that she wouldn't budge without having to say anything at all.

"Iz...seriously if I stay here…"

"You'll what? Get better?"

Meredith snapped and glared heatedly at her friend who was being overly protective and a pain in Meredith's ass. "Look Izzie, I'm not going to do anything that pulls my stitches open and I promise that I won't drive. I just need to get out of the damn house or else I think I'm going to blow and since I don't have to give reasons to you for what I want to do with my time, injuries or not, I suggest you shut your mouth and just make sure that if something does happen you will be there to take care of it. If not then I don't want you worrying over something that you don't need to. I'll be fine. Seriously."

Izzie looked rather taken aback by the amount of words Meredith had thrown at her but she seemed to consider them since the only thing she asked before Meredith left was her keys.

Meredith grudgingly placed them in her palm and then turned around to walk out the door, while calling for a cab to pick her up at her house. In the meantime she sat down on her swing outside and rocked back and forth thinking about things until the yellow car pulled up and beeped his horn. She quickly limped to the afore-mentioned vehicle and told the driver to head to Joes.

She leaned back comfortably in the seat and looked at the passing blur of houses and people. She hadn't been outside since her shooting, Mark's ride home didn't count since she wasn't out for very long, so it was weird to see more snow on the ground than there had been a couple of weeks ago. It was rare that Seattle had so much snow…usually it was just a light dusting and then lots of slush to cover the roads and sidewalks. But this year seemed to be different and Meredith wasn't sure she liked the cold version of this city.

The driver cleared his throat loudly and announced that they were there; Meredith looked outside quickly and shook her head when she realized that they really were. She hadn't even noticed, she had been lost in her thoughts the entire ride over…but that didn't really mean anything since it was only a ten minute drive.

She smiled thankfully at the man and handed him a twenty, leaving before he could give her the change, saying that it was a very early Christmas present. Meredith slowly walked over to the doorway and took a deep breath, hoping that people she didn't want to see wouldn't be there; namely Derek. When she pulled the door open, she smiled at the familiar smells that bombarded her senses and waved at Joe who had a huge grin on his face when he noticed who had walked through the door. Still smiling, she took a seat at her usual side of the bar and ordered a shot of tequila.

"You sure you should be ordering alcohol?"

Meredith glared at the bar tender for a second and gestured to her stomach, "Do I look like I'm pregnant Joe? I think I can drink if I want to, besides I don't plan on getting wasted tonight…just need something to take the edge off."

Joe grinned again and shrugged his shoulders, "Just being cautious for you Mere, someone has to."

She smiled and fingered the glass he had put in front of her. Considering it for a second, she tipped the shot back and sucked her breath in at the familiar sting of pure alcohol burning down her throat. She gestured for Joe to pour another and twisted in her seat to survey the bar. The warmth of the pub was welcoming and it seemed that she wasn't the only person to seek out the company of people tonight…but that wasn't really surprising since it was a Saturday night. Twisting back in her seat she eyed the drink in front of her and ordered an ice water to go along with it. As long as she wasn't planning on getting drunk she should at least have an alternative drink to keep her occupied. Joe agreed with her decision and turned away to grab her water and a lime; something he had always done for her whenever she needed something flavorful and yet non alcoholic.

"Is this seat taken?"

Meredith shifted to look to her left where the voice had come from and groaned inwardly when she realized she was going to be hit on. As much fun as going to a bar and getting a one night stand could be…she wasn't ready to start dating again after Derek and she was damn well certain she wasn't going to go home with random men just to give him the satisfaction of calling her a whore again. "Does it look taken?"

"Nope, just wondered. So you been here before?"

She thanked Joe as he handed her the lime flavored water and ice, and then switched crossed legs, ignoring the question and hoping that the guy got the hint…apparently not since he kept looking at her expectantly. "Yeah I work across the street."

"Really? At the hospital right! You a nurse or doctor?"

"Doctor."

The brown haired man smiled interestedly and scooted his body a little closer to hers. "Hmmm always wondered what doctors do with their spare time…so do you come here all the time? Just wanna' make sure so that I can conveniently run into you sometime." He winked like it was a perfect come-on line and grinned cockily thinking he had just made her night by telling her it.

Meredith raised an eyebrow and turned disbelieving eyes over to his face. "Seriously? Does that usually work?"

"Does what usually work?"

"The pick-up line…does it usually work for you?"

The guy sputtered nervously into his drink and closed his eyes as if trying to come up with a reason for why she was currently thinking he was a total failure at hitting on girls. "Ummmm…"

"Out of the way kid, she's totally out of your league…besides I don't think she is all that happy right now."

The guy turned surprised eyes to the man standing behind him, and looked ready to fight but when he saw who it was, the guy backed out of his chair quickly. Meredith laughed quietly at the retreat and turned to face her boss and friend. "That wasn't very nice you know…I think you scared the poor guy."

Mark grinned at her and took the seat on her right, where the man had just vacated. "Not really that hard to do since he was making a fool of himself anyways…I mean come on! Asking you your schedule so he can conveniently show up the next day and blame it on fate? Amateur. I could have thought of something sooo much better."

She laughed again and turned to take a sip of her drink, watching as the man who had hit on her tried something similar on another unsuspecting woman to her left. She noticed he kept sending worried glances their way and found it greatly amusing that Mark was able to intimidate a guy so easily. She turned back to look at him, eyeing the way he looked like he had just returned from being on call all night at the hospital…but even then he still looked like he could pick up any woman in this bar in a matter of a few minutes and take her home with him for one of his glorious one night stands.

"And how would the great Mark Sloan do it better?"

He answered her with his usual Mcsteamy grin and gestured to her drink, "Well first I would inquire as to why a beautiful young lady such as your self is sitting all alone in a busy bar and only drinking lime water?"

"Hmm and if I didn't answer?"

"Well then I would pester you until my good looks and charming interior whittles away your resolve."

Pausing in her sip of her drink, Meredith looked up at his 'innocent' expression and burst out laughing only to hold her chest in pain as the vibrations she gave out shook her abdomen to the point where her cut stretched. She took a minute to gather herself up and then she turned a bright smile to her friend and watched as his frown turned into a mirror of her own.

"No wonder you have girls practically crawling on their hands and feet to get one night with you Sloan."

Mark shook his head smugly but he ignored her comment and took a long drink of his scotch he was holding. After, he eyed her smile and then fixed his attention to where she was holding her arm firmly against her side. "Grey…should you really be out?"

Meredith scowled and turned around to face the counter, "Why does everyone feel the need to question my right to come out of my room? I didn't die so why does everyone act as if I have?"

He winced and then looked down at his own drink trying to find a way to reverse her frustration into her earlier good mood. "Maybe because everyone is worried…and they have a good reason to be."

She shrugged and glanced over at him, seeing how worried he actually was. "Look I just needed to be out, I don't want everyone to worry because there isn't anything to be worried about. I'll go home without tearing my stitches, without getting piss ass drunk, without a one night stand, without a life…" She placed her head in her hands and let out a long sigh, "Ugh…I'm a surgeon Sloan, I don't do idle very well."

Taking his hand away from his glass he briefly touched her shoulder and then went back to holding his cup in silence. She couldn't help but feel the place where he touched her burn slightly and she brought her face up to look at him. His eyes were downcast looking into his liquid cup and he seemed to be thinking about something intently, as if he wasn't sure about something or he was trying to figure something out he didn't know how. Deciding not to mention her observations to him she picked up her forgotten shot glass and tipped the contents into her mouth quickly before shoving it across the counter, shaking her head when Joe shot her a questioning glance.

"So Dr Sloan, why aren't you in the hospital working on some rich woman's nose?"

His eyes cleared at the change in topic and he smiled at the teasing tone she gave her question. "I guess no one needed a quick repair, and all the nurses pretty much hate me so I figured I would find a quickie here…instead look who I bumped into!"

Meredith scowled, nudging him lightly with her boot. "I'm not taking up your time or anything; go find that quickie of yours…"

Mark scanned the room until his eyes feel back on her and she couldn't help but feel somewhat flushed as she saw a heat in his eyes that wasn't there before. "I don't see anyone I would rather be with right now…besides I'm not sure about the whole quickie thing…maybe I'm going to turn over a new leaf."

She scoffed loudly, turning around to scan the room herself. "Yeah I see what you mean, no good pickings tonight." She sighed dramatically and faced him again, grinning mischievously. "So what? Do you sit here and wait till someone comes in or do you actually do something else?"

"I do not stay here waiting, if I don't find someone after the first half hour that is worth talking to I usually go home."

"And go to sleep? Wow your boring Sloan."

He laughed and set his empty cup on the counter with a twenty dollar bill under it. Mark slowly got out of his seat and held out his hand to her as if he was asking her to dance and she couldn't help but blush, though she hid it well under her long bangs. She eyed him again, looking from his out stretched hand and back up to his face.

"What?"

"Why don't we get out of here and I will show you how fun Mark Sloan can be."

Meredith uncrossed her legs and narrowed her eyes at him, "No sex…not cleared for it yet."

He laughed loudly and gestured again for her to take his hand, "No sex, I promise just a fun night with a good friend. Come on Grey, live a little."

She smiled and he pulled her gently from her stool, making sure she didn't hurt herself, while leading her out from the bar, waving to Joe as they left. She followed him silently, thinking about what she had gotten herself into; no one just had fun with Mark, it always led to something else and the worst part was that she didn't mind so much if it did…though Bailey would probably kill her since she definitely wasn't cleared for amorous activities. She coughed hesitantly as she realized the trail of thoughts her mind had wandered down and immediately looked towards her feet, acutely aware of Mark's hand in hers. She covered up her embarrassment by looking back up at his back and poking him.

"So where is it that I'm supposed to have so much fun at?"

Mark just shook his head without turning around to look at her, but his hand on hers tightened just a little bit and her blush grew from being light pink to light red. She decided that since he wasn't going to say anything, she wasn't, so she followed him silently and wasn't surprised when they ended up in front of his car. She watched as he fumbled in his coat pocket before pulling out his keys triumphantly and grinning towards her as if he actually accomplished something more than just finding his car keys. Giggling slightly, she shook her head and waited for him to press down on the unlock button on his electric keychain and she didn't wait for him to pull the door, instead moving ahead of him and pulling it open by herself. He didn't say anything, just laughed and turned around to get into the driver's side.

They remained quiet throughout the car ride, not because Meredith didn't try though; Mark just seemed to want to keep it a secret where they were going and as much as she hated secrets, she couldn't help but be intrigued. It wasn't long before he pulled up in front of the hotel building and she turned startled green eyes up to his silver blue ones.

"I thought I said no sex."

Mark burst out laughing but just nodded and motioned for her to open her door and follow him into the building. "I didn't lie when I told you there wasn't going to be any sex Grey. You'll see when we get to my suite."

She turned her head to look up at him and watched as he greeted the doorman happily and she suddenly felt his hand put pressure on the middle of her back, but she didn't say anything since she wasn't even sure if he realized what he was doing. "A suite, Sloan? The hospital pays you that well?"

He grinned pushing her towards the elevator and into the small room where he pushed the 4th floor button. "Yup, one of the many benefits of being the top plastic surgeon in the country."

"Why don't you just get an apartment then?"

"That would mean staying in Seattle as a permanent address."

She looked up sharply as she leaned against the side of the room and stared at him as he mimicked her on the opposite side. "You're leaving?"

Mark shrugged and studied her closely for a second and then shrugged again when he didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "Never really planned on staying, I mean the only reason I came was for Addison and Derek and some good that did me huh?"

Meredith nodded her head but remained quiet as a little voice inside her yelled that she should tell him it was worth staying because she was here. But she didn't voice her thoughts and they didn't talk until the double doors opened, showing her a long hallway with multiple doors on each side. She slowly followed Mark as he lead her to his rooms; her chest and leg were starting to act up and she hadn't had any Advil to combat the pain. She was hoping that Mark would have some with him or else tonight wouldn't last very long…whatever it was that he planned on doing with her.

They stopped outside a wooden door and she smiled as she watched him fumble for his keys again. She pointed to his left back jeans pocket and she swore she saw him blush just a little before he laughed under his breath, taking out the keys she had shown him. He slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open revealing a very bachelor living room set. Her eyes roamed to the large flat screen behind a black leather couch, white armchair and a glass table. She turned her head the other way and looked through a bar window into the small modern kitchen and then looked over to the left revealing a hallway with a couple of closed back doors on each side.

Meredith's eyes traveled back up to Mark's smirking face and she smiled back dropping her hand from his and letting her purse fall to the small stand near where she was standing next to the door.

"Come on in Grey"

She nodded her head and walked slowly into the living room sitting down gingerly on the edge of the couch, watching Mark as he moved around his suite obviously lost in his thoughts.

"So what am I here for exactly Dr Sloan?"

He grinned and then walked quickly into the kitchen where she couldn't see him. "Food...movie…good company…fun!"

She let out a low sigh and cocked her head to the side, listening to him scuffle around his kitchen, banging cabinets closed and pans being placed on the countertops. "Food? As in you cooking something?"

Mark popped his head from around the corner of the wall and scowled good naturedly at her, mock glaring. "Don't sound so skeptical Grey…believe it or not but I do know how to cook."

"First time I've heard of it…" She laughed at his irritated face and then watched as he moved back into the kitchen, resuming his earlier ministrations. "So what's for dinner? Microwavable TV dinners?"

Even though she wasn't in the room she could imagine his scowl at her words and she smiled to herself.

"Chicken parm…you eat meat right?"

She eyed the kitchen briefly before she sighed and shifted on the chair she was sitting on. "Yes I eat meat…sounds great."

Meredith waited for a reply but frowned when she didn't get any so she looked around her instead, eyeing the stack of movies near the TV and a few pictures near the edge of the TV stand. She pulled herself up from her seat and slowly walked over to admire the picture closet to the front. It was a small 3x5 photo of a young teenage girl with blonde and blue eyes; an exact mirror of the man in the other room. The girl was smiling and laughing at whoever was taking the picture, the background looked to be warm, maybe summer weather since she could make out different sets of flowers in a far off flower bed. The blue eyes were crinkled in laughter and Meredith couldn't help but envy the carefree attitude and happy exterior the girl portrayed.

"My baby sister."

She turned sharply, mentally cringing at the twinge she gave her chest, and looked up into the same familiar silver blue eyes as the girl in the picture. Mark was leaning against the archway to his kitchen, mouth curved into his trademark grin, but something about his face told Mere that he wasn't thinking about dirty, flirty, or inappropriate images that usually went along with the smile. No, this time he seemed genuinely happy for a second and she squashed the little voice in her head; the same one that told her she didn't want him to leave and was currently saying she wished she could make him give her a look like that. So instead she covered it up by walking past him and into the kitchen to sit on one of the bar stools he had next the island counter.

"Didn't know you had a sister…"

Mark, who had followed her, began working on cutting the chicken he had pulled from the fridge on the small wooden cutting board he had grabbed. "Don't really talk about her much, not anyone's business."

Meredith cringed mentally again and folding her hands on the counter, leaning forward slightly as she watched what he was doing with the knife. "I know the feeling…" Her green eyes caught his for a second before he looked back down at the chicken and turned around to grab the plastic wrap behind him.

"Ever cooked chicken parmesan before Grey?"

She shook her head, eyeing the meat dubiously and smirking as she watched him fight with the plastic in front of him. Laughing softly, she snatched the box from his frustrated hands and quickly got rid of his failed attempt. She then glanced back up into his amused eyes and then gestured to the food with the plastic wrap.

"No, but I do know that this is the fun part…" She stretched the plastic until she had a big enough piece and expertly dropped it over the exposed chicken and did the same to the other one. "Izz doesn't let me near the kitchen when she cooks…not that I blame her, last time I made anything you couldn't tell what it was exactly since it was so black and misshapen that no one really wanted to take the chance of finding out."

He laughed loudly at the mental image she had given him and he quickly hammered the chicken until they were thin enough for what he needed. Mark looked up for a second at her and then gestured to the block of cheese he had placed to his right. "Any good with a knife and cheese?"

Meredith frowned at him snatching the knife he held out and the mozzarella, deftly unwrapping it from it's package. "I'm a surgeon Sloan, of course I know how to cut things…if I didn't then I picked the wrong occupation."

Shrugging, he ignored her comment and continued to coat the chicken in batter and egg, placing them in small glass pan. She handed him the pieces of cheese she had sliced and then sat back to watch as he quickly poured the sauce over it and then put the pan into the oven. When he turned around, she smiled happily in his direction before standing up and walking out to grab her purse; searching for her ringing cell phone, sighing exasperatedly at the caller ID.

Meredith flipped it opening saying a quick hello and listened to the string of 'oh my gods' and 'where are yous' coming from the other end of the phone.

"Listen Izz, I'm fine okay."

"Why didn't you call? Me and Alex were so worried about you, he even went over to Joes to see if you were there and he said he didn't even see you leave."

"I haven't been gone for more than a few hours...why are you freaking out?" Meredith rolled her eyes at an amused Mark who was watching her with raised eyebrows.

"Because you haven't been answering your cell phone for the few hours you were gone, and everyone we called had no clue where you went."

Meredith sighed, wrapping an arm around her chest as she felt a spasm hit. "Look Izzie, I have never needed to check in before and I certainly don't need to now. I do have a life."

She listened to Izzie apologize and yell at her at the same time anyways and she closed her eyes briefly wondering why she even bothered to have friends at all…especially when they were this protective of her. "Whatever, I'm not sure when I'm going to be home so don't wait up alright?"

"Fine. But Mere…"

Meredith frowned and softly repeated an 'I'm fine' before hanging up and throwing the phone into the purse, eyeing it dubiously for a second, afraid that it would start ringing again.

"Past your bedtime Grey?"

She turned around slowly so that her chest didn't flare up again and glared at Mark's smirking face. "I have no idea why she is like that now…before I had my own life and after……..well now I seem to have a baby sitter all the time."

Mark's smile turn down a bit at the 'after' she was alluding to and shrugged his shoulders, "They care, I don't think that's so bad." His eyes traveled down to where she was holding her side and he took a slight step forward. "Something wrong Grey?"

Meredith glanced up sharply at him and then looked down at her arm in apprehension. "Not really, I just don't have my pain meds with me and its starting to act up. But I'm fine."

He didn't say anything, just narrowed his eyes in disbelief at her until she sighed heavily, rolling her own eyes again at him.

"Really."

She stood watching him until he nodded as if coming to an agreement, "Go sit down Grey, dinner won't be ready for at least another forty minutes. Extra strength Tyonel work?"

Meredith huffed at the order but nodded to his question anyways; she was going to ask him for some pain killers but she wasn't planning on it happening like this…not that she cared too much at the moment since her leg was now deciding to make its presence known to her. She limped slowly to the couch in the living room and sat down gingerly so as to not jar any of her wounds.

"Pick out a movie or something if you want. Remotes on the coffee table."

She smiled slightly at him as he yelled from somewhere behind her and eyed the neat stack of movies she had spotted earlier when she had walked in. Most of them were action and horror but her eyes caught a lone DVD case that stuck out from the others and she stood up to grab the case from near the top of the pile and hurriedly put the movie into the player, placing the case back where she had found it so that he wouldn't figure out which she had picked.

As she sat back down, she felt a cold, wet glass touch her cheek and she gasped at the sudden chill that sweep through her. Hearing a chuckle behind her, Meredith narrowed her eyes and snatched the offered water from his hands.

"Didn't know exactly what you wanted to drink so I grabbed you water. Hope two will work." Mark stretched out his hand again to pull her empty hand up from where she had it placed on the sofa and placed the pills in her palm. He paused for a second, looking at the frozen TV screen in front of him and frowned in curiosity at her choice of movie. But he didn't think about it too much and instead grabbed the empty glass she held out to him and turned around to head back into the kitchen.

Meredith turned her head to follow him with her eyes as he left and wondered what else he was going to do in there; she was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying a favorite movie of hers.


End file.
